South Legend Sichuan Restaurant

I went to grab dinner and I ended up getting the Seafood with Tofu to go.
The ginger is a bit strong, I think it’s because it’s integrated into the dish in those 1 cm squares. There’s a noticeable amount of garlic slices as well. Despite the higher than normal price tag for the area ($ 13.95 here most charge around 9.95−11.95 for comparable dishes amd even the menu listed a cheaper price) there isn’t much seafood. I see maybe 2 small/​medium shrimp, 2 1 inch squares of fried fish, 1 half mushroom cap and the rest is basically tofu with a couple strips of carrots and a few rounds of green onion.
Seems like the prices are higher than their neighbors and the quality is lower. The main reason I picked this place over some neighbors was the multiple Michelin signs giving the impression they might have had high reviews but no, it’s just that they are listed on the search engine. The website listed there is also incorrect. When you go to the correct site, it just redirects to eat24 when you click the menu link.
The restaurant décor is pretty good and spacious though. However, at around 5:30 it was pretty empty.

My first restaurant in Bay area. so much better than the small and overcooked Szechuan joints in my university city.
The environment is a little better than other Chinese jonits

One of the best Szechuan style restaurants in Bay Area. Located in a plaza with tons of restaurants and lion supermarket. We’ve been here twice and enjoyed most of the food we ordered.
Recommend: Chongqing spicy chicken (辣子鸡), Braised whole fish (烤鱼)

Szechuan cuisine is spicy. But not the type of spicy you’d expect like sriracha, tobasco, or wasabi. IMO it’s based by how NUMB it can get you (I’m pointing at you peppercorn!). Add in lots of whole chili + chili oil and bam* that’s szechuan in a nutshell.
I’ve tried at least 4 different szechuan restaurants and so far all of them were lackluster in the spicy department. I laugh because the plates always have a sh*toad of red chili but you don’t ever see me reaching for a glass of water.
Well… this place got me sniffling, checking that my lips didn’t fall off, and asking for LOTS of extra rice to kill the burn. It’s not spicy at first but it’s a creeper!
We got:
E20 BOILED FISH FILLET FIERY SAUCE
this dish was was the least spiciest. It’s a wet dish loaded with lots of chili oil. The fish was tender, easy to eat, and the assortment of veggies at the bottom of the bowl was a nice surprise. Yes to no fishbones!!! Rate ⁷⁄₁₀
G1 CHINGQING FRIED SPICY CHICKEN
Oh mannnn. I can taste the 5 spices loaded on this, fried and tossed handsomely in chili and peppercorn. The spice just explodes in your mouth. Great flavor!
Numbing sensation was definitely there. Chicken is cut into 1 inch sizes. It sucks because it’s small and had lots of bone (they give you an option to also choose without bones). Rate 8.5÷10
V9 DRIED FRIED EGGPLANT
Almost ordered the green beans over this but glad we didnt! The eggplant was very aromatic (garlic?) And so perfect to help neutralize the palate. It’s fried so it was the perfect balance: solid crisp on outer skin, still moist but not mushy. Vegetables are definitely recommended to order with spicy food! I don’t have milk on hand so this fixes the job. Rate 7.5÷10
Solid 4 star because the service here was wonderful. Staff is attentive, actually interacts with customers, and food came out fast.
Thumbs up for another good find in Milpitas!

Walnut prawns, mangolian beef, and generals chicken are my favorites! I have been coming here for 3 years and I have never had a bad experience! Food is always great tasting and fresh! I would recommend this restaurant to everyone that likes Sichuan food!!! A+ 5 star!

If you like really really really spicy and salty food, this is absolutely the right place for you!!! Unfortunately, I feel the place try use over spicy and over salty to cover the not quite fresh ingredients. One of the hot fish water dish I ordered, the texture of the fish is broken off in pieces.

Food is ok, nothing special. I had the fried rice (ok), spicy intestine (numbing), and dried shrimp with Napa cabbage (good). Service and price is ok. Fast service.

Regional Chinese. Though they have General Tso and Honey Walnut Prawn on their menu, you will hardly see them on the tables. The clientele here simply knows better. Maybe it is to capture a piece of the take-​out crowd, who laughably and probably also considers Panda Express as «Chinese» food.
Sichuan food is intense. They use several types of chiles/​peppercorns that will activate anybody’s endorphins. Some dishes even challenge me, and I’m a hot head. The Sichuan peppercorn to be exact is a unique specimen. It looks like a peppercorn but red/​pink. But when it touches your tongue, it stings it, then causes a numbing sensation. If you’re a newbie, then you may associate this with something unpleasant. But really it may be just something you’ve never really encountered. It is also really fragant, almost flowery or cedar-​y. I think I am on board with this one, but not in large quantities.
I like the broth soups here, as they are bold with their white pepper usage. The Pork and Wintermelon Soup is a winner for me. Simple yet satisfying. I always start a meal with a soup here.
A lot of their sliced meats whether pork or lamb seems to be marinated in a wine-​like marinade. It is a nuance that I find delicious. I like to pair non-​spicy dishes with more spicy ones to have more of a contrast on the table. Sauted Pork with Lotus Root is a good non-​spicy dish here. A little heavy on the corn starch but still taste great.
Fragrant Lamb is a trip. It is served in a large bowl with tons of oily broth. Glass noodles sit on the bottom, sliced tender lamb on top of that and generous dots of the Sichuan peppercorns to occasionally enter a bite. I didn’t know it was going to be soup/​hot pot-​like, but still enjoyed it. The lamb was silky smooth while the noodles were slippery to the point of being messy to eat. You can get the same dish but in beef.
Choq Qing Chicken is intense. It is dry fried, chopped up wings and covered in garlic and 2 – 3 chiles. It is assertive and the Sichuan peppercorn will not be shy. It is a lot of nibbling so it is great to share where everybody gets a little bit. If you want to just grub, get something boneless.
Randomly tried a whole braised fish once from the tank. The sauce was good but a bit salty. Deep red with chiles, garlic and ginger. The fish I couldn’t understand what the waiter was trying to say but we got it anyway. It looked like something from an exotic tank, large with nice stripes. It was incredibly delicate. So soft it resembled custard. But when the bill arrived, it was $ 38. Definitely pricier than the rock cods/​soles that I’m used to ordering. But still a nice adventure.
Clean and stylish dining room was a nice touch. Great server who gave us enough napkins to blot our beading brows. Even the glass of water they bring is huge. Everything is geared to the boldness of the food. I love it!

Love all of the spicy food here. Really unique tastes and textures. Will definitely be returning.

Very authentic Sichuanese restaurant. Changed ownership a few years ago, and it’s a lot better than before. Current owner is from Chongqing and chefs are all from Chengdu/​Chongqing. Good service; super clean and spacious.
If you come here expecting Panda-​styled fake Chinese food with a salad on the side, you will be very disappointed. If you’re not familiar with Sichuanese food, ask the waiter/​waitress for recommendations.

Terrible food, and ridiculous pricing. Apparently you can get either steamed white rice for $ 1, or fried rice or noodles for $ 8.95, or nothing as a side. The food comes with no salad or side on its own.
Service is very bad too, they don’t really speak English, so I had a hard time explaining anything. Not recommended at all.

Being here many times over the years. It has been one of the few go to places for sichuan food for many years. Excellent sichuan food, reasonable priced, good service and usually not very crowded. Although there are a couple of new chinese restaurants for spicy food now at Fremont, this is still a good place to consider.

I came here with someone from the szchewan area so he helped us order. I have been wanting to try this type of food. This was his first time here and he said it was pretty legit. The service is typical chinese, around only when you ask. If you are seeking out this type of cuisine you know what to expect, spicy.
Chongquing chicken: more like chopped and boned chicken but good. Nice crispness and tasty.
Dry fried green beans: this is the vegetable to get. Just the right wok taste
Beef in fiery sauce: yes, good. I even liked the cabbage that was in it
Cumin lamb: yes, you taste the cumin. Lots of bell peppers
Dumplings: least liked dish. Not bad but nothing exciting.
Yes, it was all spicy and all so good. If your stomach feels uneasy afterwards go nearby and grab a milk tea to soothe your stomach.

Not sure if there was a change of management or something, but the service was horrible. First, they asked us 4 times how many people we were with and just walked away to do something else. The server was incredibly rude the entire night, forgot two of our orders, screwed up one of our orders and clearly lied about it.
We used to love coming here, took a break from it and then came back to find that they replaced the wait staff with incompetent, impatient and rude individuals. These people clearly don’t care about proper service and rely on courtesy of Chinese Americans who are kind enough to leave a tip even though they are unsatisfied.

this place lights the fire in my heart for spicy food.
I’m normally not one for spicy food, you’ll never see me adding srichacha or tabasco sauce to my phở meatballs or chipotle (respectively or otherwise), but this place flamed my love for that little kick on my tongue that has me begging for more.
the chef here does something really great with szechuan food. While bringing out lots of spicy flavor in the dishes, he manages to do it tastefully, without overburdening the spice by covering the rest of the ingredients in the dish.
catch me if you can here, you won’t regret it.

Spicy, Spicy and more Spicy! This is how I would summarize this.
This place is ultimate Chinese food destination for me. Courteous people, fresh food and clean place. Little far from my house, but I try to go there on any special occasion.

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a Chinese restaurant that I really like and would actually crave, and this restaurant is no different. Prices are what you’d typically expect from a Chinese restaurant, with most dishes in the $ 10 – 15 range. The food itself and the general atmosphere of the restaurant are what you’d expect as well. Not a restaurant that would pop into my head if I were looking for something to eat, but nothing particularly bad about it.
My parents typically order the food at Chinese restaurants. Between my dad and I, we ordered a soup and two main dishes, which came out to be about $ 40 before tip:
–WEST LAKE BEEF SOUP
Minced beef, egg whites and cilantro in a broth thickened with cornstarch. I’ve had this soup at a lot of Chinese restaurants. They’re all more or less the same, and theirs here is no different — solid but doesn’t stand out. I usually add a lot of white pepper to my soup because there isn’t much flavor otherwise.
–GARLIC ROASTED SPARE RIBS
The ribs were a little on the dry side. They’re only slightly fried on the outside (so not crispy/​crunchy), but they’re still very greasy. Pretty fatty. Flavor’s okay but nothing worth noting.
–NUMBING LAMB WITH GLASS NOODLES
Not sure what this dish was actually called. It was on the special menu that was written only in Chinese and our waiter recommended it as an alternative to a spicy numbing dish since we wanted something less oily. It was essentially minced lamb in some sort of numbing broth soup with glass noodles. Although the waiter said this dish wasn’t oily, it was definitely glistening in oil. The pieces of lamb were pretty fatty and it’s definitely pretty numbing. Like the other dishes, it wasn’t bad but not particularly impressive either. Probably wouldn’t order again though.

For a previously Michelin rated restaurant, I was disappointed. I’ve been wanting to try this restaurant for awhile and finally came tonight for dinner with the family. I’d give the place 2.5 stars but I’ll round it to 3 here.
We ordered the following items:
— sweet and sour soup
— house special dan dan noodles
— spicy dumplings
— CQ Spicy chicken
— Family style tofu
— salt and pepper fried cod
Everything seemed to all come out at once and was a bit overwhelming. The soup was a bit on the watery side. The dan dan noodles were very plain, flavorless, and should have had more ground meat. The dumplings were the worst. They were nothing special, bland, and were swimming in chili oil. The CQ chicken had a nice flavor, texture, and seasoning but with the amount of chicken to red chili ratio (it’s a plate full of red chili peppers), you’re not really getting much out of the dish. The tofu and salt and pepper fried cod were decent items.
Maybe we didn’t order the right dishes? This was my first time at a Sichuan restaurant but there was nothing I tried that has me wanting to come back for more. From the other reviewers, it looked like they do offer good lunch specials and ice cream only during lunch time. Ice cream would have been a nice touch after a spicy dinner though. Too bad we weren’t given any.

½/​15: I haven’t been to too many Szechuan/​Sichuan restaurants up here, so still looking for other good ones, but I’ve enjoyed most of the dishes here… One good sign is that there are usually 0 Caucasians here, so you know it’s the real stuff. This time I saw a table of ~10 Indians sitting at a big table for a family meal. I know they like their hot food, so that’s a good sign as well.
1. B3 Boiled Lamb Slices in Fiery Sauce $ 11.95: This is one of the most popular/​famous Szechuan dishes I know of. Usually tenderized beef/​pork/​lamb/​fish in the traditional sauce that’s covered by a layer of bright red, near neon, hot oil. Typically there is a huge helping of special Szechuan tongue-​numbing pepper corns throughout, but strangely I couldn’t find any in this version! Very strange. So it’s actually kinda lacking the traditional taste. The lamb is also slightly over-​tenderized. Not the best Szechuan «Fiery Sauce» lamb I’ve had. Still a must get, cause well, you’re at a Szechuan restaurant!, but don’t expect it to wow you. Also note, this is not as hot as I’ve usually had it, so I think maybe next time as for it to be extra hot. ⁵⁄₁₀.
2. P1 Garlic Roasted Pork Rib $ 11.75: I was really looking forward to getting the ribs here because I remember last time I had some that simply floored me! But I think I ordered the wrong one this time. Last time was dark, dense, and full of amazing flavor. This one is very tender and has a lighter flavor, with a slightly fried outside. But it’s not the intensely flavorful one I had before. I have a feeling that one was «P2 Pork Spare Rib w/​Roasted Sichuan Chili.» Guess I’m gonna have to come back to find out. ⁶⁄₁₀.
3. V5 Sichuan Cold Noodle $ 8.95: I know this is one of the traditional noodle dishes too, but I don’t have any memory of others to compare to. But my date, who is familiar with such dishes, said it’s definitely different. This one is super sweet. Like way too sweet. Has a hint of peanut flavor, but I think they would usually add more. Noodles themselves were cooked perfectly el dente. I wouldn’t recommend getting this – the sauce is just not right. ³⁄₁₀.
4. «Spicy Pot» with Blood Clots (only written in Chinese, on the printed Chef’s special menu.) $ 16.95: Luckily my date reads Chinese, but if you have no one that does I guess you’re out of luck on this one. Well, I guess you can try to tell them what you’re looking for based on my description… It actually has a lot more than the blood clots – I saw fish fillets, small intestines, tripe, spam, and even thin and wide, papery translucent noodles on the bottom. Make sure you dig out the noodles first before they get soggy. This dish actually has quite a bit of the Szechuan pepper corns that were missing from #1, so you get a little bit of the tongue numbing sensation. Heat-​wise, still not as hot as I would expect. Will need to ask for it to be extra hot next time. But I love all the different types of food in this pot. Very tasty. ⁸⁄₁₀.
I think overall their food might be slightly different from the traditional Szechuan versions, lacking the special tongue-​numbing peppers in some, and overall not being nearly hot enough. But still, it’s decently good food.
For now I’ll give it a ⁴⁄₅ because I haven’t found better up here. But I might readjust after trying more Szechuan restaurants here.
EDIT: Just tried Chef Zhao Bistro in San Mateo:
That place is definitely better than this one. Downgrading to ³⁄₅. Gave the other a ⁵⁄₅. Try it!
#Szechuan #Sichuan #chinese

I’ve been here a couple of times and really enjoy the food. It can definitely be crowded on the weekend, but the wait isn’t that long. Come during the week and you won’t have any problems. The customer service is always very good. You’re greeted warmly and they always come around asking if everything is OK. The staff is always very friendly and helpful.
Yes, the food can be a bit spicy for some and some of their dishes aren’t identified as spicy but are. I suggest asking before ordering, since everyone’s level of «heat» is different. I, personally like the «heat», but that’s just me. I always find the flavor of their dishes to be spot-​on. The fried tofu with minced pork, mapo tofu, mongolian beef, walnut prawns, sauteed string beans and garlic pork ribs are my fave.